Roger Kemp

Bendigo 1908-1987

“The aim of my work has been to develop in relation to the central discipline of aesthetic and structural balance, and from this formal plastic and creative centre, to express through a realised symbol, my experience and knowledge of humanity.” In these simple words, Kemp summed up the attitude which through constant and determined application made him a vital force in Australian contemporary painting. McCullochs Encyclopedia of Australian Art Alan and Susan McCulloch

Always as the work progressed, Kemps concern was to find and unlock the structure of the painting as it emerged under the free flow of his brush. Each picture was for him a revelation of the truth, the hidden structure and forces that govern the world behind the appearance of things. Like Goethe, he saw every individual work as ‘a fragment of a large confession. Patrick McCaughey, Strange Country, Why Australian Panting Matters.

1978 -1980 National Gallery of Victoria ‘Cycles and Directions’ with concurrent exhibitions held at Monash University Gallery, Victorian College of the Arts, Realities and Melbourne University Gallery. This exhibition then travelled to several Victorian Regional galleries and finally in 1980 to the Art Gallery of New South Wales

1975 University of Melbourne Art Gallery

1973 Mornington Peninsula Art Gallery

1971 Commonwealth Art Gallery London

SELECTED RECENT GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2015 ‘Triumph of Modernism’ TarraWarra Gallery

2013 – 2014 ‘Vibrant Matter’ TarraWarra Gallery

2011 ‘OUT OF AUSTRALIA Prints and Drawings’ British Museum

2010 ‘Sight & Sound Music and Abstraction in Australian Art’ The Art Centre Melbourne